Today's Gospel reading tells us of the betrayal of Jesus (John 13:21-33).
Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, at... read more

FOMO...
No, it is not a type of food. Rather, it is an acronym that refers to the Fear of Missing Out. This term describes a phenomenon that has rapidly taken our culture hostage. This phenomenon is the fear that a person might miss out on doing... read more

The Dominican version of Compline has maintained much of the variety which the Western Catholic Church suppressed following the Council of Trent (1545-1563). These include the responsory Media vita in place of the Nunc dimittis​ on Saturdays,... read more

Every time I get in the car and scan through the radio stations, I'm bound to hear these words on at least three stations simultaneously:
"Take Me to Church"
When I first heard this extremely popular song for the first time, I thought it must... read more

Lent is almost over but it's not to late to repent and change. Sometimes all we can see is sin and darkness. Yet, Jesus shows us that obedience can help us overcome that by focusing on virtues rather than sins. read more

Latest Video

Latest Vespers Videos

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, our Dominican mission and the call of Pope Benedict XVI to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ through new media, preachingfriars.org focuses on spreading the Gospel through videos, preaching, and theological discourse.

Reclining at table with his disciples, Jesus was deeply troubled and testified, “Amen, amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” The disciples looked at one another, at a loss as to whom he meant. One of his disciples, the one whom Jesus loved, was reclining at Jesus’ side. So Simon Peter nodded to him to find out whom he meant. He leaned back against Jesus’ chest and said to him, “Master, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I hand the morsel after I have dipped it.” So he dipped the morsel and took it and handed it to Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot. After Judas took the morsel, Satan entered him. So Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly”... So Judas took the morsel and left at once. And it was night....

Throughout Holy Week God reminds us of his self-emptying love: both in becoming one of us and embracing the Cross. It is through this love that the Lord transforms all things so that every knee may bend at his name and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord!

When we think of Jesus, when we pray to Jesus, do we think of Christ crucified? Can we contemplate the face of Christ crucified?

When we recorded this, the reading of the Scripture passage -- Isaiah 50:4-7 -- was left out:

The Lord GOD has given me / a well-trained tongue, / that I might know how to speak to the weary / a word that will rouse them. / Morning after morning / he opens my ear that I may hear; / and I have not rebelled, / have not turned back. / I gave my back to those who beat me, / my cheeks to those who / lucked my beard; / my face I did not shield / from buffets and spitting.

The Lord GOD is my help, / therefore I am not disgraced; / I have set my face like flint, / knowing that I shall not be put to shame.

No, it is not a type of food. Rather, it is an acronym that refers to the Fear of Missing Out. This term describes a phenomenon that has rapidly taken our culture hostage. This phenomenon is the fear that a person might miss out on doing something exciting or interesting, so they disengage from the world they are a part of in order to observe their world via social media.

Ἰδοὺ ἡ δούλη Κυρίου: γένοιτό μοι κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου. (“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”) (Luke 1:38)

The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, the Theotokos, refers to herself as a slave. A "δούλη​" (doo-lay) is literally a slave in Greek. How can this be for the one chosen to bring Freedom himself into the world? Simple: "Freed from sin, you have become slaves of righteousness." (Romans 6:18)

By continuously turning her will over to the will of Our Heavenly Father...

The Dominican version of Compline has maintained much of the variety which the Western Catholic Church suppressed following the Council of Trent (1545-1563). These include the responsory Media vita in place of the Nunc dimittis​ on Saturdays, Sundays, Solemnities and Feasts during the season of Lent. Above is a recording of the Media Vita sung by the brothers of St. Dominic Priory in St. Louis:

Lent is almost over but it's not to late to repent and change. Sometimes all we can see is sin and darkness. Yet, Jesus shows us that obedience can help us overcome that by focusing on virtues rather than sins.

Is sin an important mystery of our faith? Does it really have anything to do with Satan? Are we living in The Exorcist? Is there pea soup in my future? All of these questions and more, answered at Non Nisi Te.

On a sunny March day in 2013 I walked into St. Joseph’s Church in New Orleans. As my eyes adjusted from the noontime sun to the darkness of the dimly-lit Church I realized there were hundreds of people inside. It wasn’t quite full, but to find a group of seats for four students (I was a campus minister) and myself took a bit of looking around. Mass was about to begin and there were roughly a dozen people kneeling around an a altar full of breads, pastries, and wine, that sat at the foot of the St. Joseph statue. What was it that brought these hundreds of people to a daily Mass during their lunch hour? It was the feast of St. Joseph, patron of workers, and these people were here to honor their heritage, honor the saint, and to let the Eucharist transform them.

There is an apocryphal book titled the "Acts of St. John [the Evangelist]" which was written by pious Christians as a kind of novelized re-telling of the evangelist's life. It was almost counted as canonical, as it was rumored to be written in the 2nd century by a disciple of the same St. John. It at least preserves some oral traditions that the early Christians passed around to give flesh to the life of the Beloved Disciple. The Conferences of John Cassian (a favorite of St. Dominic) recount a very similar story to one found in the Acts that goes like this:

It is told that the most blessed Evangelist John, when he was gently stroking a partridge with his hands, suddenly saw one in the habit of a hunter coming to him. He wondered that a man of such repute and fame should demean himself to such small and humble amusements, and said: Art thou that John whose eminent and...